To think that a lot of people don't drink enough water?

[Chocolatefreak]

Not the most riveting subject but I think it unknowingly causes a lot of health problems, particularly in the older generation. For example, I know several people of my parent's age who have had kidney issues; repeated infections, cystitis, stones, etc. Spending time with people of my parents' and grandparents' generation I've noticed the tiny amount of water they drink compared to the amount younger generations do. My grandmother used to avoid drinking water to avoid needing the loo and unsurprisingly often felt dizzy and sick in the morning. When I remind them, my parents reluctantly serve water with meals (in almost shot-sized glasses!) and consider it to be a chore, when they'd much rather get stuck straight into the wine. My mother hydrates exclusively on tea, coffee and alcohol. As a child I had incredibly dry hair and skin which I'm wondering now was probably due to constant dehydration.

Has anyone else noticed this and why are we drinking more water now? Is it because it's been successfully marketed (mineral water and reusable drinking bottles) or because people are more aware of the benefits? If so, why only in the last few years? I rarely go out without water.

I pretty much only drink tea, and have done so for several decades, it's really not a problem. Drinking too much water comes with it's own problems of course, and you could end up with hyponatremia.

You can get water from tea, coffee, and lots of food. I think being actually medically dehydrated is not that common at all in the normal population. 8 glasses, or some fancy water bottle with amounts and times on is really not needed.

My dad was hospitalised for several days after drinking too much. His sodium levels were all out of whack, and he had seizures.

Absolutely zero evidence for this.

Yes you are right . There is absolutely no evidence at all to say that we are permanently dehydrated. Of course we need fluid but it comes in food and all other liquids . If we’re also dehydrated like some say then we would all be in hospital.

no, it didn’t keep the wrinkles at bay .
you are right .

my grandparents drank 2litres of water a day but I expect they are unusual.

I only drink coffee. I occasionally add wine or vodka to my daily intake. Even more rarely, I drink water if I'm very thirsty. I'm frequently tested for various medical things, and self-monitor at home as well. I have NEVER been dehydrated.

An old GP of mine told me he'd joyfully taken part in a study at medical school, in which volunteers had to drink only whisky for a fortnight, no other liquids 😂 They did not get dehydrated. I should've asked him if he felt dehydrated/hungover in the mornings, but I suppose they dealt with that by drinking more whisky!

Us terrible oldies never drunk water at all, only gin, until we were taught a better way by the yoof.
This mania for carrying bottles of water around started in the mid 90s IIRC. Before that we drunk the stuff that came out of the tap. Bottled water was glass and Perrier was pretty much it. Bottled water was for holidays in places where the tap water wasn't safe to drink and those insane French.
Then companies like Coke and Pepsi started selling bottled tap water as if it was some rare asset and now it's more expensive than petrol and all those plastic bottles are a disaster for the planet. Not to mention the air miles. Remember Fiji water? Flying water from the other side of the planet when it falls out of the sky over here.
I've always thought that bottled water was the biggest con inflicted on the public. I'm sure a lot of people think that you can't actually drink tap water now.
Similarly, Dress Down Friday was invented by Levi's when they wanted to sell Docker's trousers.